Forever
by onlyonceinforever
Summary: Spencer knows that 'forever' is never what it means...:ONESHOT:


**Disclaimer: Dude, if I owned Criminal Minds (which sometime between this fic and the last one I got hopelessly addicted to), Spencer would be in it a HECK of a lot more. And I would be able to shrink him using my superior AP Psychology skills. And there would be a lot more Spencer childhood fics out there.**

**Forever**

_"Spencer, hurry up! We're going to be late!" A young girl, around the age of six, calls. _

_"I'm trying, I'm trying!" A boy, around the same age as the other child, responds. He tugs desperately on the strap to a worn backpack, attempting to free it from the grip of a tree branch. "It's stuck!"_

_The girl races over to him, joining him at the base of the tree. She grabs onto the other strap and pulls as well. Together, they are able to free the backpack, which falls to the ground with a loud thud._

_"Sheesh, Spence, whatcha got in there? Bricks?" The girl asks teasingly. Spencer's relieved expression drops off his face, leaving a visage of shame. She notices immediately and attempts to recant her statement._

_"Spence, I'm not trying to make fun of you, you know that, right?"_

_The response is silence._

_"Really, I'm not. I was just commenting on the fact that this thing weighs a ton. I don't have a problem with the fact that you like to read, really, I don't."_

_The boy looks up at her, a hopeful expression in his eyes._

_"Really? You don't think I'm weird?"_

_"What? Of course not! How many times you I have to tell you that?" _

_Spencer still looks unconvinced. It is obvious that the girl is has to try very hard in order to not look frustrated._

_"Spencer, come on, think about it (which I know you can, since you're, like, a genius). If I thought you were weird, why would I be hanging out with you?"_

_Spencer seems to think for a moment on this before answering in a completely serious tone. It is obvious that he truly believes the next words he says._

_"Because you think it would be comical to find out how close you can get before crushing me?"_

_The girl is momentarily stunned. It is clear that she does not understand why someone would think such a thing about another._

_"Why would I do that?" she asks finally, a confused look mutating her usually-serene features. _

_He shrugs, looking at his feet._

_"You wouldn't be the first..." he mutters as he refuses to make eye contact._

_The girl is appalled. Why would someone do something like that? she wonders. It is obvious that she typically sees the basic good in people, but knows that there is evil in the world. _

_"Spencer," she begins tentatively, "I would never do that to you."_

_He looks up, hopeful._

_"Really?"_

_"Really really. Whoever would do something like that is just mean. I'm not like that."_

_"But..." he trails off, at a loss for the first time for the right words, "Then why are you helping me?"_

_"Because we're friends, that's why!" The girl says cheerily, grinning widely at Spencer. _

_"Friends...?" The word is foreign on his lips, and he pronounces it slowly, as if attempting to wrap his mind around the concept._

_"Yup! We're friends, and I'm gonna help you all the time! Those jerks who threw your bag up there, they're just meanies. I'll get back at them for you, promise."_

_"Promise?"_

_"Yup! That's what I said. We're friends, and that means I got your back, all right? You and me, we're gonna be best friends forever!"_

_"Forever?"_

_"Yup! Gee, for a smart guy, you sure don't seem to know too much. But don't worry, I'll fix that. Now come on, we're really gonna be late!" With that, the girl skips off in the direction of a school, leaving Spencer standing there in shock. Never before had anyone offered him something such as this. For all his superior intellect, no one had ever accepted him for him before, and he wasn't sure what to do. Eventually, he came to embrace the idea of having someone around whom he could confide in and who wouldn't make fun of him like the other kids did. She was glad to have him, too, someone who she could play with and help, if not in the sense of schoolwork, then in the sense of life. _

_She helped him more than anyone could have ever imagined, right up until the day when her family moved away. She had told him that they would stay in touch, that they wouldn't ever grow apart, but as time wore on, the letters came less and less frequently, until they stopped altogether. Then the news came. There had been an accident, a bad one, and she hadn't made it. _

_Spencer was stunned. This girl, this girl who had helped him so much all through their childhoods, was dead. This girl, who had forced him to stand up for himself after many years, was gone. This girl, who Spencer loved like a doting older sister, was never going to show up at his door, smiling the way she always had, announcing that she was moving back. No, none of that would ever happen._

Doctor Spencer Reid awoke with a start to find himself in his bed, in his home, ten years later. A lone tear made its way down his cheek, falling gracefully onto the fabric of a pillow, quickly absorbed by the material.

"You told me you would never leave me," he whispered into the dark, lonely room, "You promised we'd be together forever. Some forever this turned out to be..."

Spencer turned over and pulled the sheets up over his head, a desperate attempt to block out the thoughts that would never be.


End file.
